Positive thinking: good or bad?

A very interesting article in a recent edition of The Times here. Barbara Ehrenreich is an American who has just brought out a new book on what she terms the 'cult' of positive thinking. Diagnosed with cancer, Ehrenreich was bombarded with messages of 'positivity', urging her to envisage herself not as a victim but as a survivor, which sparked off a train of events that let to her writing the book - something of a counterbalance to say the least.
Have I encountered a cult of positive thinking since arriving here? Possibly not to its fullest effect yet. But the theory makes sense - it ties in with the get ahead, do it yourself mentality that seems to be the prevailing mood of most Americans. The Major has been prescribed a book to read, called American Ways. In it, the author discusses this attitude held by many Americans, that our destiny is entirely in our hands, and nothing to do with economic or sociological situations or backgrounds. A good way to live? Yes, to some extent - but it can go too far. Yesterday the Major took a tour around Kansas City with a group of colleagues. They were shown by their guide an area which had been at the bottom of the food chain, economy wise - until local authorities decided to raze it to the ground and build a brand spanking new shopping centre on the site. Their tour guide apparently then started something of a diatribe against poor blacks in America: that they have no-one to blame but themselves, that they are lazy, wanting to rely on a welfare state that doesn't exist.
Sure, people should take responsbility for themselves. But the fact remains that some people are born with more disadvantages than others: whether it's because their parents are poor, they live in a socially deprived area, or one where the local schools aren't so good. As Ehrenreich is quoted as saying in the article, when discussing an Oprah Winfrey show: "she [Oprah] made some comment on the show about how it was all just a matter of attitude whether you get ahead in life and I just said, ‘No! I think that’s victim-blaming’.”
"Isn’t Winfrey, the prototype self-made woman, entitled to hold such an attitude?," the article asks. “I think it’s the most wonderfully selfflattering thing to believe, if you are rich and famous and successful, that ‘I did it. I did it all by myself, through my own essence.’" replies Ehrenreich. "I can imagine it would be a good thing to feel. We don’t as Americans tend to acknowledge interdependency. The debt you owe your parents, free public education and so on. It’s all ‘me’.”

Possibly all a bit full-on for a Thursday afternoon. But having just started teaching an undergarduate class in journalism at the University of Kansas, it will be interesting to see to what extent my students feel that their destiny is in their hands, and how much of it they owe to others around them. Once more, I'll keep you posted.